The much-anticipated 2017 season opener for Cambridge football kicked off at 7:30 p.m. on August 25th in a crowded Creekview Stadium. The Bears held a one-point lead at the half, but Creekview outscored the Bears 21-0 in the third quarter to take a runaway 41-28 win.
Many questions loomed regarding quarterback Hogan Dykes' debut. Dykes put these doubts away early with a 48-yard touchdown pass on the game's opening drive. He went on to throw for 249 yards and 4 touchdowns. "Hogan had a tremendous night" said Coach Bennett. "He managed everything really well and made some big plays for us". Junior wide receiver Ridge Polk caught three of these touchdowns. Polk, the Del Taco offensive player of the week, contributed 11 receptions for 194 yards along with 158 yards in special teams returns. Senior running back Matthew McCree added 80 yards rushing in his first Varsity start. The Bears finished with 347 yards of total offense.
The Bears' defense struggled, especially after halftime. Creekview exploded for 556 yards of total offense. Three touchdowns of 50-plus yards added to the pain. Creekview's wide receiver corps caused problems for the Bears all night and recorded 3 touchdowns. "We as coaches didn't put them in the best position to be successful and we will work to get better," Bennett stated. "We have to learn from our mistakes and focus on the next opponent". Senior linebacker James Poinsette led the Bears defense with 7.5 tackles.
Despite six straight losses to Creekview, Coach Bennett wants to schedule them again next year. "Not sure if it will be our first game, but it will be early in the season" Bennett said.
Cambridge will not have much time to recover with the mega rivalry against Milton coming up on Friday, September 1st. Last year came down to the wire, and Cambridge is expecting a packed out stadium for the second annual meeting.
Milton comes into the matchup at 1-1. The Eagles blew out Alpharetta in their season opener 31-9, but lost a 31-28 heartbreaker to North Gwinnett on a touchdown with eight seconds left. "We treat it just as any other game," Bennett said. "We don't hype it up much during the week, we want our players emotionally level".
The game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
Go Bears!
article by Jack Sadighian